Monthly Archives: October 2008

The Matthew 25 Network is a community of Christians – Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, and Evangelical – inspired by the Gospel mandate to put our faith into action to care for our neighbor, especially the most vulnerable.

The election of our public officials, and the politics they stand for, are a reflection of our core values. We believe that those elected to public office carry an important trust, as their decisions have a profound impact on our nation and our world.

We believe that people of faith should actively participate in the political process as an important avenue for social change. We are called by our faith to engage in the world as it is, while we seek after and hope for God’s Kingdom.

Therefore, while no elected official will be without flaw, we come together as individuals to support candidates for public office who share the values of the Matthew 25 Network: promoting life with dignity, caring for the least of these, strengthening and supporting families, stewardship of God’s Creation, working for peace and justice at home and abroad, and promoting the common good.

We need a systemic, common ground, common sense approach. Nearly two-thirds of women who have abortions are poor. Almost half are college-age or younger. Two thirds are single.

We can drastically reduce abortions by helping reduce unplanned pregnancies and supporting pregnant women and families that need help.

Senator Barack Obama will fight to make sure that every woman in America has the support she needs when facing an unplanned pregnancy. Senator Obama’s grass-roots, faith-based approach of support for women and families will help them when they most need it, preventing abortions by supporting women and families to choose life.

Now, I want to go on the record of saying this very thing YEARS ago. I did (Shmoop, you remember that conversation? Zeek might). The law is there, but that doesn’t mean people need have to take advantage of it. It might still be a law, and we can reduce abortions by HELPING others. I give everything my babies didn’t need to my local Crisis Pregnancy Center. Everything. They have all of my cribs (I had 6), clothes, you name it. They took everything up to 2T clothes and I stopped by once a month with a van full.

I’m looking forward to the culture of life that we can make happen. Where there aren’t so many poor, so many in need. Where a girl doesn’t have to choose abortion because she doesn’t have the finances to choose life.

This subject is close to my heart because at 19 I found myself pregnant (even though I had been on the pill), and thinking I had no other option I made the appointment to have an abortion. I went into my parent’s study and cried on my knees. I didn’t want to do it, but I hadn’t even graduated high school and couldn’t see how I could raise a child. Adoption wasn’t an option for me. I’m not brave enough to give a child I had up.

So there I lay, on the table. Girls were going in and out, crying. It’s a horrible place to be. I begged for an ultrasound picture to remember my baby by, but the nurse refused.

I was granite inside. Emotionless. I had to be, there was no other way I could get through it.

You can imagine my astonishment to have the Dr say he couldn’t perform the procedure. You see, the Planned Pregnancy Dr. had made a mistake when he told me I was 19 weeks pregnant. I was actually 24 weeks pregnant and at that stage it was illegal to have an abortion.

In a way my prayers were answered. The decision was taken from me, and I drove home that day numb.

My son is now 18 and I love him to pieces, but raising him with no money and bouncing from job to job and house to house was a nightmare. I would save all my money to feed him, while I ate one grapefruit a day. We made it through, but now I see it as my job to make that decision easier for a girl whose shoes I was once in. I want her to know she can make it, and I help in every way I can.

Popping Zantac like M&Ms when I imagine McCain/Palin in the White House means I am not trusing God. So this morning I came upon Zoecarnate and read almost every link (I had aready found Brian McLaren’s posts).

It talked me down.

It also talked me up. I am almost crying seeing what people like Ordinary Radicals are doing. It make me so deeply, deeply happy to see that I am not the only one who has gotten sick of Christian Status Quo and are living their lives in truth to the change that they wanted to see.

I want this to be over. I have to say that I want to be unified under the inclusive message that Obama has been speaking about. I was reading through Oprah’s magazine and a quote from Rachel Maddow summed up how I felt.

Humans are ambitious and rational and proud. And we don’t fall in line with people who don’t respect us and who we don’t believe have our best interest at heart. We are willing to follow leaders, but only to the extent that we believe they call on our best, not our worst. (as told to Mamie Healey)

To me, the McCain/Palin ticket has preached division, fear and war-and with Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs, I am deeply offended that she would tie those opinions to God. They happen to be three things that I am staunchly in opposition to, while also being a Christian. Yes, I am pro life, but not to the exclusion of everything else I stand for.

I hate this election. It’s splitting the nation, houses, families. My husband, who is not voting because he hates the two party system, is predicting riots in the cities if the race is close and Obama doesn’t win, and I can’t say I don’t agree. My blame goes to the racist attacks of the Right Wing-the portion that preaches Jesus out of one side of their mouths, and division and hatred out of the other.

I’ve never been a political junkie before this race, but since Obama won the primary I’ve had CNN on every day (and MSNBC at night only to switch back to CNN for the second Anderson Cooper’s 360 loop). I tried Fox just to get some balance but my husband would have to buy a tv a week because of the things I would throw at them.

Back to what I was saying.

Eight years ago I left the institutional church (IC). It was a non denominational pentecostal church that was putting on it’s then 1 million dollar addition(-and now totals 10 million). I left because I had realized that it was empty, even though every seat was full twice on Sunday. To understand the depth of that statement, know that I had been raised in church. I’d been a faithful attender since I was three-my mother had been a part of the Jesus Movement and I had gone to every stadium filled Jesus concert with her and her BFF. She even played guitar with one of the bands. 🙂 Church was my LIFE. But as I got older, I had some questions that no pastor wanted to answer.

If we are to love our brothers as ourselves, why do we preach hate against homosexuals?

If we are to love our brothers as ourselves, why do you preach against being friends with non Christians?

If we are to love our brothers as ourselves, why do you preach against interracial marriage?

If we are to love our brothers as ourselves, why do you preach against women being the full partner in a marriage?

If we are to love our brothers as ourselves, why won’t you let the woman with bleached hair, ragged nails and an eyebrow piercing sing with the worship team?

Continuing in this vein, why does the Right Wing, who professes conservative Christianity, endorse Sarah Palin? She is preaching discord (Pro America-thus making some areas Anti American), thinly veiled racisim (allowing racist threats to be yelled and smiling when she hears them-watch the footage) and xenophobia (he’s different than us).

Is that what Jesus would do?

BUTBUTBUT Obama believes in abortion, they preach from the pulpit! He’s a socialist!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m staunchly pro life and I have the seven kids to prove it. But I cannot say that I’m pro life and then erase that statement by supporting torture, an unjust war that has killed not only over 4000 of our troops, but wounded over 100k others and then there’s the Iraqies. (I’m again reminded of Mark Twain’s War Prayer)

I can’t say that I’m pro life, and not support healthcare for the least of these. I can’t say that I’m pro life and not support helping the needy. But isn’t that socialisim? No. It’s Christianity in action.

You know, Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Faith is not a group, it’s not an institution, it’s not a person. It’s a way of life. I COULD vote for McCain/Palin, but it would be becuase I held one portion of humanity above all others.